Car dumper



A. F. CASE CAR DUMPER Filed March a, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 6, 1930. A. F. CASE 1,757,932

CAR BUMPER Filed March 3, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fwl Patented May 6, 1930 NET STATES ARTHUR F, CASE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOB, TO THE VTELLMAN ENGINEERING COLIPANY, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO CAR DUMPER Application filed March 3, 1927.

This invention relates to car dumper clamps which serve to retain a car on the track or supporting platform of the dumper while the dumper is being tilted to discharge the contents of the car and, more particularly to car clamps ofthe type in which the clamp is automatically controlled to hold the carduring the dumping operation and to release the same during return of the dumper to its car receiving position.

in my co-pending application Serial No. 165,262, filed February 2, 1927, I have disclosed an automatically controlled car clamp provided with lifting and holding cables both connected to a counterweight mounted directly on the rotatable'dumping cradle and, in connecton with the counterweight, there is provided means for automatically locking the counterweight to positively hold the clamp during the time that the cradle is in car dumping position and for shifting the counterweight during the return of the car and cradle to upright position, to move the car and clamp out of car engaging position and to J hold the same until the cradle is again tilted.

The present invention has for an object to provide means for actuating and locking the clamp which is automatically controlled in a manner similar to that disclosed in the 1 above mentioned application and in which of the cradle engaging with the movable part on the cradle. in which means is provided for cushioning the clamp lifting connections against shocks due to the impact of the movahle member against the abutment.

With the above and other objects in view the invention may be said to comprise the car dumper clamp as illustrated in the accompanying drawings hereinafter described Serial No. 172,301.

and particularly set forth in the appended claims, together with such variations and modifications thereof as will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention appertains.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a car dumping cradle of the turnover type showing the cradle in car receiving position, and a clamp and its controlling members in the positions that they occupy when the cradle is in car receiving position; 7

Fig. 2 is an end view similar'to Fig. 1 showing the cradle in the partially tilted position at which the clamps are brought into engagement with the car during the dumping movement and at which the clamp lifting operation begins during the return movement of the cradle;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end view showing the cradle tilted at an angle of substantially 90 and the counterweight locked against movement to prevent the releasing movement of the clamp;

Fig. 4 is a detail plan View of the clamp holding counterweight and. clamp lifting lever mounted in the lower portion of the cradle; and

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the fixed abutment with the clamp lifting lever in engagement therewith.

While it will be readily apparent that the car clamp of the present invention can be applied with slight modifications to various types of tilting car dumpers, the clamp is illustrated in the accompanying drawings as applied to a rotatably mounted car dumper of the turnover type in which the car receiving frame is mounted within a series of circular enclosing rails 1 which turn upon suitable supporting rollers :2 mounted on a suitable foundation. The car receiving frame within the cradle comprises a bottom or floor 3 extending the full length of the cradle and having at opposite sides thereof uprights i and 5. The uprights l, being on the side toward which the cradle turns in dumping, may be provided with the usual plate to re ceive and discharge the material from the cradle as it falls from the car during the dumping operation. The u *ights 5 on the opposite side are provided with suitable guides for a series of car clamps which engage with the top of the car and hold the car while it is being dumped. The car is supported upon a platen 6 which is mounted for lateral movement on the bottom member or door 3 of the cradle, the platen 6 being provided with track rails 7 which are adapted to align with the rails of a railway track when the cradle is in car receiving position.

In the accompanying drawings a single clamp has been illustrated but it will be understood that as many of these clamps as desired may be mounted at intervals along the length of the cradle as is common practice in the art. The car clamps are preferably supported upon the side of the cradle opposite that toward which the material is discharged in dumping and, shown herein, each clamp is carried by a head 3 which is slidably mounted in suitable gui es on the standards 3 and has a lateral car e aging extension 9 which is adapted to engage with the top edge of the car on the side adjacent the uprights 5. A clamping beam 10 is pivotally connected at 11 to the extension 9 of the head 8 and extends across the space between the uprights 4 and 5, the free end of the beam 10 being engageable with the edge of the car adjacent the standards at.

Directly beneath the bottom member 3 and I beneath each car clamp, there is mounted a counterweight guide formed by a pair of oppositely facing channel bars 12 which extend transversely beneath the bottom member from one side to the other thereof'and at a slight downward inclination from the side at which the standards 5 are mounted toward the side at which the standards t are mounted. In each pair of guides 12, there is mounted a counterweight 13 of a weight suitable to apply the necessary actuating pressure to the clamps in the engaging position thereof and this counterweight is supported at its rear end upon wheels 14 which travel in the guides 12, the diameter of the wheels 14 being but slightly less than the space between the upper and lower flanges of the channels so that the rear end of the counterweight is held against lateral movement with respect to the guides. The wheels 14; are carried by axles 15 which extend transversely through the rear end of the counterweight and, midway between the ends of the axle, the counterweight is recessed to receive pulleys 16 which are rotatably mounted on the axle. The counterweight 13 l is supported at its forward end on wheels 17 The rear end of the lever 19 is provided with an upwardly projecting arm 21 which engages with an abutment 22 on the counterweight to limit the pivotal movement of the lever with respect to the counterweight and the upper end of the arm 21 is formed to provide a pawl tooth 23 which is adapted to engage with the teeth 2% of a ratchet bar 25 fixed to the under side of the platform 3, as will presently be explained.

The counterweight 13 when the cradle is in car receiving position tends to swing downwardly about the rear axle 15 as a pivot, swinging the rear end of the lever 19 downwardly until the arm 21 engages with the abutment 22. the pawl tooth 22 being then below the points of the teeth 2% of the ratchet bar so that the counterweight is free to move along its guideway. After the cradle has turned through an angle of approximately 90, the center of gravity of the counterweight 13 will have shifted. to the side of the axle 15 toward the ratchet bar 25 and the pawl tooth 23 will have been brought into engagement with the teeth 2 of the ratchet. hen the tooth 23 engages the ratchet, the counterweight is loclred against rearward movement in its guideway and this serves to positively lock the clamp against releasing movement. as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

Clamp applying cables 27 are anchored at 28 to the bottom member 3 adjacent the standard 1 and extend upwardly over sheaves 29 at the forward end of the clamping beam 10. from the sheave 29 rearwardly over sheaves 30 at the inner or rear end of the beam 10 to the inner side of the pivot 11, downwardly from the sheaves 30 over guide sheaves 31 and 32 adjacent the lower end of the standard 5 and from the guide sheaves over sheaves 16 to the point 33 where they are anchored to the cradle frame. Lifting cables are attached to the head 8 and extend upwardly over pulleys 36 at the upper end of the standard 5, downwardly along the inner side of the standard over guide sheaves 37 at the lower end of the standard and are anchored to a drum 38 mounted at the lower end of the standard 1-. Fixed to the drum 38, there a smaller drum 39 to which anchored a cable 40 which extends from the drum 39 to an actuating lever 1 which is pivoted to the cradle immediately beneath the platform 3. The lever 41 is formed of two parallel outwardly facing channels 4-2 which are spaced apart and which are connected by means of top and bottom plates 13 and. 4:4. The lower face plate 44 of the lever engages with the spaced abutment rollers 45 carried by a braclr et 1-6 which is fixed to the foundation beneath the cradle 1. The abutment rollers 45 are so positioned that when the cradle returning to upright car receiving position, after dumping the car, the lever 11 will engage with the abutment rollers 45 and will be swung in a direction to unwind the cable 40 from the drum 39 and rotate the drum 39 and with it the drum 38 in a direction to wind up the lifting cables 35 and lift the clamp out of engagement with the car. 7

Since the cradle turns rapidly in its movement from dumping to upright position, the impact of the lever 41 upon the abutment rollers 45 would, if the cable 40 were directly attached to the lever, exert a sudden tension on the cables 40 and 35, making it necessary that these cables be rather heavy in order to enable them to withstand the impact. In order to cushion the operating cables and prevent damage thereto by the impact of the operating lever against the abutment, means is provided for gradually applying the lifting thrust to the clamp actuating cables. To this end, the cable40 instead of being directly attached to the lever 41 is attached to the lower end of an arm 47 which is pivoted at its upper end to suitable lugs or brackets secured to the face plate 44. 'Pivotally connected to the lower end of the arm 47, there is a bolt 48 which extends upwardly through the top and bottom plates 43 and 44 of the lever and which is normally urged in a direction to hold the lever 47 against he face plate 44 by means of a coil spring 49 which is interposed between the plate 43 and a washer 50 at the upper end or the bolt. The arm 47 is so positioned on the lever 41 that it lies between the abutment rollers 45 while the lever is in engagement with the rollers. "When the lever 41 engages with the abut ment rollers 45, the initial pull on the cable 40 is absorbed by the spring 49 which allows the arm 47 to swing forwardly away from the lever so that the lifting pull is gradually applied to the cables 40 and 35 enabling the inertia of the clamp to be overcome without excessive strain on the operating cables.

When the cradle is in car receiving position, the clamps will be held in their upper or released positions, as shown in Fig. 1, by rea son of the fact that the lever 41 is held by the abutment rollers 45 in a position such that the cable 35 is wound upon the drum 38 sutficiently to hold the clamps at the desired elevation. The lifting of the clamps exerts a pull on the holding cable 27 and shifts the counterweight 13 to the rear end of its guideway, as shown in Fig. 1. As soon as the car dumper starts to revolve in a clockwise direction, as shown in the drawings, the lever 41 is gradually released, allowing the char ms to descend by gravity, unwinding the cable 35 from the drum 38 and simultaneously rotating the drum 39 to wind up the cable 40. As the car clamps move downwardly, the counterweight 13 moves downwardly in the guide way 12 applying a gradually increasing pull on the holding cable 27 as the inclination of the guideway 12 increases so that when the clamp comes into engagement with the car,

the counterweight 13 acting through the cable 27 presses the clamp toward the top of the car. In some instances, coal or other ma terial in the cars being dumped may projectabove the top of the car so that the clamp is at first prevented from engaging the car. in this case, a gradually increasing force is exerted by the counterweight upon the material engaged by the clamp and, as the cradle tilts, the material will discharge from the top of the car permitting the clamp to be moved by the counterweight into full engagement with the car. When the counterweight guide has reached a substantially vertical position, the counterweight will pivot about its rear snpporting axle and engage the pawl with the ratchet so that uponcontinued movement of the cradle and as the weight of the car is imposed upon the clamp, the clamp is automatically locked against movement in its releasing direction toward which it is pressed by the weight of the car. The counterweight, however, continues to exert pressure on the clamp and, should the pivotcd end of the beam 10 be held away from the car by material lodged between the same and the edge or the car, the counterweight vill act to swing the beam into engagement with the car as soon as the interposed material is discharged, the pawl and ratchet when engaged permitting movement of the counterweight in the clamp applying direc ion but preventing movement in the opposite direction. During the return movement of the cradle, the counterweight 13 swings about its supporting axle 15 shortly after the guide 12 has moved past its vertical position releasing the pawl from the ratchet so that the co anterweight is free to move in either direction. The clamp, however,-is held in engagement with the top of the car by its-own weight and by the counterweight until the cradle approaches its upright car receiving position whereupon, the lever 41 engages with the abutment rollers 45 causing the drums 39 to beoperated to positively lift the clamp and return the counterweight to the upper end of its guideway.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a car dumper, a cradle adapted to receive a car and mounted for tilting movement to dump the same, a car clamp movably mounted on the cradle, means including a member movably mounted on the cradle and operatively connected to the clamp for controlling movements of the clamp toward and from car clamping position, separate means on the cradle for pressing the clamp against the car, and means controlled by tilting movements of the cradle for directly locking said separate means to the cradle to lock the clamp in car clamping position.

2. In a car dumper, a cradle adapted to receive a car and mounted for tilting movement lllil to dump the same, a car clamp movably mounted on the cradle, a counterweight mounted on the cradle and connected to the clamp to press the same toward the car, means controlled by turning movements of the cradle for directly locking the counterweight to the cradle to lock the clamp in car clamping position during the dumping operation, and means independent ofthe counterweight for automatically shifting the clamp out of engagement with the car when the same is returned to upright position and the counterweight locking means has been rendered ineffective.

3. In a car dumper, a cradle adapted to receive a car and mounted for tilting movement to dump the same, a car clamp movably mounted on the cradle, a counterweight mounted on the cradle and connected to the clamp to press the same toward the car, means controlled by turning movements of the cradle tor directly locking the counterweight to the cradle to lock the clamp in car clamping position during the dumping operation, and means comprising a member m'ovably mounted on the cradle independently of the counterweight and connected to said clamp and av fixed abutment in the path of movement of said member for automatically shifting the clamp out of engagement with the car when the same is returned to upright position and the counterweight locking means has been rendered ineffective.

4-. In a. car dumper, a cradle adapted to re ceive a car and mounted for tilting movement to dump the same, a car clamp movably mounted on said cradle, a pair of cables con nected to said clamp, a pair of independently mounted movable members on said cradle,

each connected to one of said cables, means controlled by the dumping and return movements of the cradle for locking one of said members directly to the cradle to hold the clamp in car engaging position and means for actuating the other of said members to shift the clamps out of engagement with the car.

5. In a car dumper, a cradle adapted to re ceive a car and mounted for tilting movement to dump the same, a car clamp movably mounted on said cradle and biased toward car engaging position, a pair of cables connected to said clamp, a pair of independently mounted movable members on said cradle, each connected to one of said cables, means cooperating with one of said members for actuating the same to shift the clamp out of car engaging position and for releasably holding the clamps out of engagement with the car, and means associated with the other of said members for releasably locking the same directly to the cradle to hold the clamp in car engaging position.

6. In a car dumper. a cradle adapted to receive a carand mounted tortilting movement to dump the same, a car clamp on the cradle mounted for vertical movement toward and from the top of the car, a member inox ably mounted on said cradle and connected to said clamp for movement simultaneously there with, a fixed abutment with which said member engages when the cradle is in car receiving position to hold. the clamp in elevated position, a counterwei ht movably mounted on the cradle independently of said member and connected to theclamp so as to press the same toward the car while the cradle is turning to dump the car,'and means controlled by turning movement of the cradle to directly lock the counterweight to thecradle to hold the clamp against the car.

7. In a car dumper, a cradle having a car receiving track and mounted for lateral tilting movement to dump a car held on the track, a clamping member mounted on the cradle for movement toward and from thetop of acar on the track, a guideway on the cradle extending transversely beneath the track and inclined with respect to the plane of the track, and a clamp holding counterweight connected to said clamping member and mounted for movement along said guideway. 7

8. In a car dumper a cradle having a car receiving track and mounted for lateral tilting movement to dump a car held on the track,

a clamping member mounted on the cradle for movement toward and from the top ot a car on the track, a guideway on the cradle extending transversely beneath the track and inclined with respect to the plane of the track, a clamp holding counterweight connected to said clamping member and mounted for movement along said guideway, and means controlled by turning movements of the dumper for locking the counterweight to 5;

the cradle to positively hold the clamp to the car.

9. In a car dumper, a. cradle having a car receiving track and mounted for lateral tilting movement to dump a car held on the track, a clamping member mounted on the cradle for movement toward and "from the top of a car on the track, a guideway on the cradle extending transversely beneath the track and in clined with respect to the plane of the track, a clamp holding counterweight connected to said clamping member and mounted for movement along said guideway, a ratchet eX- tending along said guideway, and a pawl carried by said counterweight and engageable with said ratchet.

10. In a car dumper. a cradle adapted to receive a car and mounted for tilting movement to dump the same. a clamping member mounted for movement toward and from the top of a car on the cradle,'an actuating cable connected with the clamping member for shifting the same. and means for operating the cable comprising a movably mounted actuating member connected to the cable, an

ceive a abutment in the path of said member, and yielding means carried by said actuating member for cushioning the initial tension on said cable upon engagement of said actuating member with said abutment.

11. In a car dumper, a cradle adapted to re and mounted for tilting movement to dump the same, a clamping member mounted for movement toward and from the top of car on the cradle, and means for actuating said clamping member comprising an actuating member movably mounted on the cradle and having a yieldable connection carried thereby with said clamp and an abutment mounted independently of the cradle with which said actuating member is adapted to engage.

12, In a car dumper, a cradle adapted to receive car and mounted for tilting move ment to dump the same, a clamping member mounted for movement toward and from the top of a car on the cradle, and means for actuating said clamping member comprising an abutment mounted independently of the cradle, an actuating member on the cradle adapted to engage the abutment and to be moved thereby upon a movement of the cradle and cushioning means carried by said actuating member for causing the actuating force to be gradually applied to the clamping iember upon engagement of the actuating member with said abutment.

13. En a car dumper, a cradle adapted to receive a car and mounted for tilting movement to dump the same, a clamping member mounted on the cradle for movement toward and from the top of a car on the cradle, a clamp applying cable, a counterweight mounted on the cradle and connected to said cable, means for locking said counterweight to the cradle to hold the clamp in car engaging position, a lever pivoted to the cradle, a cable connecting said lever and clamping member, a fixed abutment with which the lever engages during return movement of the cradle from dumping position for actuating said lever to shift the clamping member out of car engaging position.

14. In a car dumper, a cradle adapted to receive a car and mounted for tilting movement to dump the same, a clamping member mounted on the cradle for movement toward and from the top of a car on the cradle, a lever pivoted to the cradle, a cable yieldably connected to said lever and operatively connected to said clamping member to shift the same upon actuation of said lever in one direction, and a fixed abutment with which said lever engages during a portion of the movement of the cradle.

15. In a car dumper, a cradle adapted to receive a car and mounted for tilting movement to dump the same, a clamping member mounted on the cradle for movement toward and from the top of a car on the cradle, a lever pivoted to the cradle, an arm pivoted to the lever, a spring interposed between said lever and arm for yieldably resisting movement of the arm with respect to the lever, a cable connected at one end to the clamping member and at the other to said arm, guiding means for said cable on said cradle, and a fixed abutment with which the lever engages during a portion of the turning movement of said cradle, whereby said lever is actuated to shift said clamping member.

16. In a car dumper, a tiltable cradle having a car receiving track thereon, a clamping member mounted on the cradle for movement toward and from the top of a car on said track, a fixed abutment adjacent the cradle and comprising a pair of spaced rollers, a lever pivoted to the cradle and provided with a face adapted to simultaneously engage said rollers during a port-ion of the turning move ment of the cradle, an arm pivoted to said lever and lying between said rollers when said lever is in engagement therewith, a spring interposed. between said lever and arm and a cable connecting said lever to said clamping member.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

ARTHUR F. CASE. 

